Nine Lives
by PockyPaint
Summary: When curiously different Bella Swan arrives in Forks, her brash attitude and wicked skills with technology brand her as a novelty. But she has a deeper secret, and the only one who knows it is Alice Cullen...


**I was reading Twilight the other day when I found myself wondering "What if Bella had a British accent? And was the complete opposite of how she usually is?"**

**And that's how I started this story. Usually that's how all my stories start…wondering what if and the like…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Stephanie Meyer does.**

**Any way, Bella's going to act TOTALLY different than she usually does. Like, so different, that I don't know how Edward's going to fall in love with her. Scary… But that doesn't matter very much, since this is mostly going to be an Alice and Bella friendship.**

**Nine Lives**

**Chapter One: A New Start**

I looked around the airport again. Still no sign of Charlie. Adjusting the duffle bag on my shoulder, I picked up the suitcase sitting beside me and walked over to a bench in the terminal. Why couldn't God have given me a parent that _remembered _his child? He left me like this last time I visited Forks, on bloody _Christmas._ Imagine it, an eight year old sitting by her self in an airport till three in the bloody morning! It's a wonder I wasn't stolen. But that was nine years ago, and I'm a big girl now. I can handle myself, if necessary.

Irritated, I glanced at my watch again. Damn it. I've been standing here for nearly 30 bloomin' minutes! Where could he be? Maybe I should get a blasted coffee…the caffeine might keep me calm. And oh look, there's a café right over there. I was standing up to try one of those brilliant looking lattes in the window when a familiar voice had me spinning around.

"Bella!" And there he was. My late as all 'ell father, Charlie Swan. He looked pretty much the same as I remember him. Average height, brown hair, brown eyes, sturdy build, with just a _wee_ bit of pudge around his mid section. He ran up to me and stopped, like he was unsure of what to do.

"Well?" I said. "Are ya just gonna stand there all day like a damn lump on a log, or are ya gonna help out your poor daughter?" I used to be shy, but I've discovered that when people think you're British, they _expect_ you to be rude. And they forgive you. Just like that. It sure helped me come out of my shell. And broaden my vocabulary.

He grimaced. "I see you still haven't gotten rid of that accent. Honestly, I don't know how you can be born in Arizona and still manage to sound like that. I keep thinking that it was a bad idea to send you to Britain." He engulfed me in a bear hug. "It's good to see you again, Bells, accent or not." I grinned at him.

"It's nice to see you too, but that doesn't change the fact that you never should have let me go on that exchange program, no matter how smart I was. Now I'll have to annoy you with this voice for the rest of your bloody life, Charlie." I've never been comfortable calling him dad after he and my mom got divorced. I still call Renée 'Mum' though. I don't know why, and I probably never will.

"So how is your mom?" Charlie asked as he picked up my suitcase and we began walking towards the parking lot. "And Phil too? You didn't really say much when you called and asked to if you could come and stay with me."

"Oh, yeah. The thing is…you know how Phil has always wanted to play baseball professionally?" We were at Charlie's police cruiser. I never really understood why police officers had to ride in these things. The flashing lights only make you look like a moving circus. Charlie placed my suitcase in the trunk, followed by my duffle bag. He didn't answer until we were both in the car and driving.

"Yeah."

I fiddled button that operated the window. "A talent scout came and drafted him onto some team I can't remember the name of, and now he's bloody traveling all the time. And of course mum wanted to go with him, but she also wanted to look after me. She couldn't choose, so I chose for her, and here I am."

Charlie grinned at me. "Oh, you're so selfless, Bella," He teased. "What would the world do without you?"

"Rot in bloody 'ell with gasoline knickers is what it'd do." I muttered as I crossed my arms and sunk down in my seat. He was bloody laughin' at me. I _hate_ being laughed at.

He tried to stifle his chuckles, but I heard them anyway. "Cheer up. I got you a present."

I sat up slowly and looked at him. "Aw, Charlie, ya didn't have to get me a flamin' present!" During our talk, we had arrived at Charlie's house. I didn't even notice until he stopped the car and got out. It too was just as I remembered it. Wide lawn, white, two stories. There was a dirty black Mustang in the driveway though. I didn't remember that.

"Charlie! Is that your bloody girlfriend's car? Please don't tell me you two 'ill be shagging each other while I'm here! There's only so much I can take." Images of Charlie and an unknown woman going at it filled my head. Ugh. It's not that I'm not happy that he's moving on and all, but I don't want to hear or see it. Maybe we can arrange it so that whenever they start getting off, I can leave the house…

Charlie gave me a funny look as he handed me my duffle bag. "Bella, you know I don't have a problem with you using your British slang while you're here, but I can guess what…that one…means, and I don't want you to say it where I can hear it anymore." Aw. I was hoping he'd let me explain that one. I bet he'd blush… "And I don't have a girlfriend."

Well that solves one problem. "Then whose is she?" I asked as I walked around the car and admired it. "She's a beaut. I'll bet if I upped the power on her just a tad, cleaned her up, and added some Nos and neon, she'd make any street racer proud." I've never trusted anyone with vehicles I've driven, so I always do the mechanical stuff myself. And I have to say, I'm pretty damn good at it.

"She's yours." I stopped inspecting the tires and turned to look at him, studying his face carefully.

"No kidding? She's really mine?" I asked, excited. If he gave me time to trick it out, when I started school tomorrow, the other kids would just bloody die!

"Yep, she's yours. But I had better not hear anything about street racing. How would it look if a police officer's daughter was arrested?"

I rolled my eyes, and shifted the duffle bag around on my shoulder. "Quite right and all, but can we get a flamin' move on already? My shoulder's killing me." Charlie laughed and walked by me to the door of the house and unlocked it. Everything was the same. I tramped up the stairs to my room. Well, it wouldn't look like this for long. Setting my duffle bag down, I turned to look at Charlie, who had followed me up.

"Have you got any spray-paint?" He blinked at me.

"Yes…It's in the den. Why do you need it?"

"I got to do _something_ about these dratted white walls. Have you neon green?"

I pulled into the parking lot of Forks High School, wickedly pleased by the admiring glances the group of boys that were nearest me sent my car. After I had bombarded my room with splashes and splatters of color, I went to work on the car. I spent over six hours cleaning, tuning and styling it to perfection. The twenty inch rims now gleamed proudly and the black paint was freshly done, with the addition of a mist design I had done along the bottom part of the car with that can of neon green. I had also gone to the auto parts shop and picked up some lights to go underneath the car, the same color as the mist. But I didn't have them turned on, so the boys didn't know that yet. There were some more secret features on the car that were…unusual, to say the least. The only other car in the lot that looked anything near new was a shiny silver Volvo. But it didn't have spinning rims, so it didn't really count.

I hate to say it, but I don't spend nearly as much time on myself as I do on bloody vehicles. It's one of my many shortcomings. But I like to think I did well today, on my first day at a new school. I was wearing a black fitted sweater over dark skinny jeans, with black high-topped Converse and my favorite red cashmere scarf that I got in England. It went amazingly well with my brown eyes and hair. Not to mention my pale complexion.

I opened the car door and stepped out, grabbing my green and black book bag off the seat. Only after shutting the door, and locking the car with the button on my set of keys, did I notice that the group of boys was still staring, and staring _hard_. American boys are so rude, even ruder than the British.

I glared at them. "What're you lot staring at? Never seen a Mustang before?" They seemed even more put out at the sound of my voice.

One of the boys shook himself out of his stupor and said, "We're sorry. It's just that…we thought you were a guy."

"Why, just because you think girls can't handle cars like this?" I asked, annoyed. "I'll have you blokes know that I did all the work on this beauty myself. And if I come back out here and find a single bloody fingerprint on her, heads will roll. Got that?" All of them nodded quickly. "Good. Laters." I turned on my heel and walked to the school. Following the signs, I made my way into the front office and asked for my schedule.

"You must be Isabella Swan! We've heard so much about you," is what the secretary said. I just smiled tightly and replied,

"Bella. It's just Bella." And I turned to walk out, I ran into a tall, gangly boy with glasses. He grinned at me.

"You're Chief Swan's daughter, Bella, right?"

"Yeah…that'd be me." Did _everyone_ in this blasted town known who I was? Forks must be smaller than I originally thought.

"I'm Eric. I'll show you around, okay? Let me see your schedule." He took my schedule and glanced at it for a few seconds. "Good, we have the same homeroom. Follow me." He grabbed me by my arm and began steering me down a hall. I couldn't protest, and I would have gotten lost anyway, so I just let him drag me around and bombard me with questions.

"So Bella, we heard you were from Arizona. How come you talk like you're British?" We had stopped in front of a classroom, which I assumed was my homeroom.

"I was born in Arizona, but I went on an exchange program when I was 10. I was there for about six years. I just got back from England last year."

"Cool. Listen Bella, let me tell you something. How you go in and present yourself to the students in this room decided what they think of you for the rest of the school year. Don't come in and be lame, or they'll think you're lame." I scoffed inwardly. As if I could ever be lame. "Wait here for a minute, and then I'll call you in. What happens after that depends on you." He turned and went in, closing the door behind him. I could hear muffled voices from behind the door. Then I heard a loud "Bella, come in now!"

I pushed open the door and walked in. Everyone turned to stare as I walked in. I waited till I was right next to Eric before I turned to look at my fellow students. Shifting my bag around, I placed my hands on my hips and said the first thing that came to my mind, and the thing that would brand me for the rest of the year:

"What the bloody **'ell **are you lot looking at?"

There was a moment of silence. And then a blonde girl sitting in the back called, "Wanna sit with me at lunch?"

"Sure. But I don't 'spect you'll have tea and crumpets, will you, mate?" The room broke out in laughter. I don't see how that was funny. I was just asking a simple question. I walked towards the blonde, and sat down beside her. All of the students went back to what they were doing before, now that they each had their own personal opinion of me. During homeroom and my next four classes, several people became my first friends: Jessica, the blonde who invited me to sit with her, a tall, quiet girl named Angela who was very nice, a boy named Mike who wouldn't stop touching me, and Ben, a short, sweet boy who Angela obviously had a crush on. And I couldn't forget Eric. He was firmly lodged in the category labeled 'Stupid Little Buggers That Wouldn't Keep Their Bloody Hands Off Of Me' with Mike.

What was this, Touch and Annoy Bella until She Tells You to Go Shag Yourself Day?

Staying with the British has forever warped my sense of politeness.

I was only too glad when lunch rolled around. All of the material in my classes had already been covered at my old school, so I was bored out of my mind. Why I started school on a Friday I will never know. And everyone had asked me about my accent, and why I was so. I simply told them about the exchange program, and explained that I never went outside much when I was at my old home. When I walked into the lunch room, it wasn't hard to spot Jessica, since she was waving like a crazed loon. I was relieved to see that all of my other friends were sitting around her, with only one other person I didn't know. Good. Then I wouldn't have to introduce myself to tons of new people. I walked to Jessica's table and sat down.

"Hi Bella," Jessica said cheerfully. "You haven't met Lauren yet." The dark-haired girl sitting beside her nodded frigidly at me. I felt oh so welcomed. I mean, the sincerity from her greeting was washing over me in waves. I paid no heed to her though, and continued listening to Jessica.

"Why didn't you get a lunch tray?" She went on. "Aren't you hungry?" When Mike and Eric, who were also sitting at the table, heard that, they hurried to push their plates of food in front of me.

_Trying_ to be polite, I declined with a "No, thank you, poppets. I just don't like cafeteria food." I pushed their plates back at them, ignoring the hurt looks on their faces. They looked like bloomin' puppies that'd been kicked. "I brought my own lunch. It's in my car. In fact, I should go get it now." I was standing up to leave when I sensed a supernatural presence. Vampires.

I'd always been able to sense them, even when I was a little girl. It's just one of the three things that make me a supernatural phenomenon. I figured there would be at least two vampires in Forks, what with its blasted cloudy weather and vampires' aversion to sunlight. I came prepared. Looking around, I tried to spot them. And it wasn't hard. They soon walked into view. There were five of them. Two girls and three boys, all identified by their even paler than mine complexions, and their jaw-dropping beauty. The smaller of the girls, a little brown-haired wisp of a thing, was somehow familiar…

Sitting back down and drowning out the others' voices, I closed my eyes and began sorting through every memory I've ever had. That's phenomenon number two: the ability to remember every thing I came in contact with and to tamper with other people's memories. My brain was organized into a series of folders and files for easy viewing. I flickered past my childhood and went into the folder in my brain labeled 'England', and then into sub-folder 'Parties'. Going to a sub-heading named "Brighton's Pub', I pushed play and watched the events in slow motion.

I snapped my eyes open.

Ah. I bloody well remember now. Her name was Alice Cullen. Two years ago she had been in England for a couple of days, and had just so happened to stop by the pub I was in. And yes, the British will let fifteen year olds into pubs. I had sensed that she was a vampire, and having always found her sort interesting, immediately walked over to her and struck up a conversation, asking if she was hunting in the area. Her eyes had widened and she had grabbed my arm and towed me out of the door. Once we were in a nearby park, she had asked me how I knew she was a vampire. I had laughed and said that I'd always been able to tell. After assuring her that I would tell no one what she was, she and I had talked long into the night, during which time she became my best friend.

In fact, I liked and trusted her so much, that I told her my secret as well. Having never seen a were-cat before, she was fascinated when I shifted. And yes, I am a bloody were-cat. It's phenomenon number three, the last one. It's not a big deal. I got bit by some weird mutant cat thing one day, and now I can shape-shift into a huge white feline-tiger-lion-thing of sorts.

Anyway, she informed about her family of vegetarian vampires. She told me about her fellow, Jasper, who she said had the ability to control people's emotions, her brother Edward who could read minds, and her other brother Emmet, who was the brute of the bunch. She also told me about Rosalie, her conceited sister, and Carlisle and Esme, her adoptive parents. She also told me that she had the ability to see the future. I was pretty skeptical, but I believed after she told me what I, and everyone else in my class, would make on my British history exams.

She had been very interested to know that I sometimes hung around other vampires. One of my hobbies, then and now, was to experiment with and mix different types of animal blood, to see what they tasted like. Being a were-cat, I ate raw meat with blood, but never just blood. It's not very solid, you know. So I would get other vampires to sample my experiments, and give me their feedback. I told her that, and she wanted to try some. I had asked her to come back and meet me the next day, and she had agreed. We promised to be life-long friends that night…

Unfortunately, Alice never got to sample any because, being young and inexperienced with my abilities at fifteen, I accidently blocked her memories of me as I was leaving the park, but I was unaware of what had happened. Since her memories of that night were forgotten, she didn't meet me at the park the following night. I guessed what I had done, but since I didn't know where she was, I couldn't remedy the situation.

But I can now.

Standing up again, I grabbed my bag and turned to my friends at the table. "Can you lot cover for me?" Everyone stopped whatever they were saying and stared at me.

"Why, where are you going?" Angela asked.

"I'm leaving this blasted school. Just tell the teachers I got first day jitters, or some bullock like that. I'll be back tomorrow, mates." I began walking away. "Laters."

I hadn't gone two feet before Mike spoke, talking to the others.

"Did she just say 'lay us'? Because that's what it sounded like to me." The others murmured their agreement. Inwardly I shook my head. My accent wasn't _that_ hard to understand…was it?

I cleared my head as I began to walk in the direction to the parking that would take me past the Cullen's table. I stayed in a group of kids that were also walking by, so none of the Cullens would immediately smell my feline blood. I only had a few seconds to jump into Alice's head, find the memory, unblock it for her to remember, and then shield it so that her brother Edward couldn't see it. He'd probably question her, and then tell the whole bloomin' family! I don't want that.

What? I like to keep myself a secret. And it'll be worth it to see the looks on their faces when I actually _do_ reveal myself.

Anyway, few seconds was all I needed to rewire her head. As I walked out of the door and into the parking lot, Alice Cullen had suddenly remembered a night in England two years ago...

**So, how was it? This was my first Twilight fict., so I'm kinda anxious about what you have to say. Please don't flame. Criticize, but don't outright bloody flame!**

**And yes, I'm aware of the fact that Bella says 'bloody' too much. But she can't help it. It's her favorite bloody word! And mine too!**

**So, anyhow mates, review, or guess what the world will do? It'll, and I quote, "Rot in bloody 'ell with gasoline knickers is what it'd do."**

**Just review, love, or the world will suffer. **


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